University of Missouri
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Kansas
Tigers Drop Five-Game Border Showdown Opener
9/19/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Sept. 19, 2007
COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Missouri Tiger volleyball team (7-4, 0-2 Big 12) was unable to finish off a tough Kansas Jayhawks squad (8-5, 1-2 Big 12) in the Hearnes Center Wednesday night. After getting up 2-1 in the match, the Tigers dropped the last two games to lose 23-30, 30-26, 30-20, 28-30, 7-15. Senior Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) led Mizzou with 24 kills. It was Kansas' first win in Columbia since 2001.
The Tigers, looking to secure their first Big 12 win of the season and take the early lead in the 2007 Border Showdown, fought off an error-ridden game one and took the next two against the Jayhawks, but a determined Kansas team and more sloppy play late from the Tigers gave Kansas the match in front of 2,215 fans.
Yang led the way for the Tigers with 24 kills on the evening, while senior Tatum Ailes (Bellevue, Neb.) helped defensively with 20 digs. Freshman Caitlyn Vann (Muncie, Ind.) had a big night with 13 digs and two service aces.
Frosh Weiwen Wang (Nanjing, China), Catie Wilson (Omaha, Neb.) and Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) all scored 12 kills for Mizzou, marking a career-best for Catie Wilson.
Kansas freshman Brittany Willams led the Jayhawks with 15 kills and Caitlin Mahoney notched eight blocks.
The Tigers were unable to overcome a sloppy start in game one, dropping the game by a score of 30-22. Kansas was able to take advantage of a poor hitting game by Missouri, who committed a game-season-high 12 errors. The Jayhawks jumped out to an early 8-3 lead and never looked back, as their lead grew to as much as 12. The Tigers tried to scratch and claw their way back into the game, eventually cutting the lead to 26-21, but the Jayhawks proved to be too much, getting three kills from three different players. Na Yang led the way for Missouri with six kills, while freshman Weiwen Wang contributed with four kills of her own. Tatum Ailes added eight digs on the defensive side. The Jayhawks outhit the Tigers .344 to .071, Missouri's lowest hitting percentage in a game this season.
"We have young players. We're a young team on paper, but I am expecting more," explained Missouri Head Coach Wayne Kreklow. "I'm just looking for people to come in and compete."
The Tigers were able to bounce back in game two, rallying past another fast start by the Jayhawks. After being down early by scores of 7-3 and 16-12, the Tigers fought their way back to take their first lead of the night with a huge 15-3 run to put them up 27-19. Behind six kills from sophomore Megan Wilson, one shy of her career high, the Tigers were able to put away Kansas 30-26 to tie the match up at one game apiece. Missouri played a much more clean game, committing only five errors and notching a hitting percentage of .261. Weiwen Wang and freshman Catie Wilson added three kills each to help the Tigers.
Missouri was able to ride their success from game two into the third game, as they impressively defeated Kansas 30-20. The two teams exchanged points all the way to an early 8-8 tie, but the Tigers were able to pull away behind solid games from Na Yang and Catie Wilson. Yang threw down five kills and added two blocks, while Wilson had four more kills of her own. The Tigers came up with eight big blocks and 11 digs in a well-played defensive game, limiting the Jayhawks to a .027 hitting percentage. The Tigers also received three big service aces in the game, two from freshman Caitlyn Vann and another from Weiwen Wang.
The fourth game proved to be a classic battle between the archrivals, with the two squads fighting back and forth the entire game until Kansas was finally able to even the match up with a 30-28 win. The Tigers and Jayhawks traded points back and forth for most of the match, and were eventually tied at 22-22 late. However, the Jayhawks, down 24-22, got five straight points, enough to hold off a late rally from the Tigers. The Tigers outhit Kansas .359 to .231, and got seven kills from Na Yang, but it wasn't enough to overcome the late Kansas surge.
Kansas took that momentum from game four and turned it into a big come-from-behind win with a 15-7 win in the fifth and final game of the match. The Tigers were never able to get anything going and the Jayhawks defense seemingly got to everything the Tigers threw at them. The tough Jayhawks defense, coupled with four Missouri errors lead to the ultimate demise for the Tigers in game five.
"We just can't seem to stop any middle hitters. The problem now is that with such a young team, the errors can be emotionally damaging."
The Tigers look to bounce back after a tough loss and earn their first conference victory as they head to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State on Saturday evening.
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